Morning arose from the outskirts of Ponyville, but it was a hectic one in the residence of Radial Shine and Mobius when they were scrambling to do multiple checks over everything they needed for the camping trip. Mobius was in his room preparing his bag filled with camping equipment. He took a little breather resting on his bed.
"Today's the day, the halfway point of season 8, can't believe I'm just almost halfway finished with all of this. If I'm lucky, I can wrap this up in the season 8 finale and make erase season 9 from existence. I made sure to get all my stuff ready for a hike; sleeping bag, drink containers, books for the road. Yesterday was a breakthrough in gaining the changeling's trust in my ultimate end-goal of thwarting Chrysalis. But I think me and Thorax agreed with my plan:"
Flashback to yesterday at the Changeling Hive, James was just finishing up his explanation of his big elaborate plan to stop Chrysalis from ever initiating her plan when Thorax and the rest of the changelings were surprised by the whole infrastructure of it.
"So, what do you think?" James finished off his explanation with a quick snap of his right fingers.
"Wow, that is one way to do things," complemented Thorax, taking in this whole elaborate plan as he ponders, "Maybe a bit too unorthodox for us. I don't even know what to make of it."
"You'll be fine, it's me that's going to do most of the talking."
Pharynx was next to get his output on this plan. "No creature has ever communicated with Chrysalis without getting their bodies sucked up from love. Are you sure you can handle her?"
"That won't be a problem, my friend. All you have to do is be ready for tomorrow and prepare for my signal. The best-case scenario is that we'll be able to knock this out in about an hour or so." roughly explaining the key points, James relayed the plan once more. turning over to Thorax right next to Pharynx to add in an extra tidbit. "Just to be clear, I want you to keep this away from Twilight, her friends, and the other creatures on this friendship retreat; I don't want them involved in this."
"Why not?" curiously asked Thorax, scratching his chin. "Twilight is capable of helping Chrysalis, she's the princess of friendship! Maybe we could write her a letter about what we're going to do so that we can be assured victory."
Thorax did have a good point, Twilight would be more suitable for the job. However, James managed to save it by rebutting. "Well, last time I've checked, Chrysalis hates Twilight's guts after she thwarted her at the royal wedding and that Starlight Glimmer after she made coup to her hive. Those are the last ponies she ever wants to speak to, let alone want friendship lessons from. Nevertheless, I need you two to cooperate with me 100% of this job."
"Understood!"
The plan should be very much flawless yet requires the perfect time to execute, he thought to himself. He had to be prepared for anything if this is going to work in his favor. Just as the seconds ticked by, Radial proceeded to enter the door with no signs of knock as she carried two bags filled with camping gear with her horn.
"James! It's almost time for us to go." she assumed. "Can you go over the plan one more time?"
"Easy..." he pulled up his phone from the bed and tapped on the revert button to change back into James a small second. "I'll take a head start into the forest while you'll be with the other me."
Two taps on the phone, he then spawned in Mobius right in front of him causing Radial to jump out and drop everything she carried on the floor. The small fright made her get a small case of goosebumps to go with it, "Oh sheesh...I forgot we can do that. Does it have a mind of its own?"
"Technically speaking, it's our conscious appearing as a physical manifestation; everything we see, do feel, will be connected," explained Mobius, slowly walking up and lifting his camping gear. "I'll be beside you all the time at the same time confronting her."
"Excellent stuff, but something is bothering me," Radial turned over to a large bipedal that is her younger brother, seemingly a bit worried, "Where do I come in?"
"All you have to do is keep them at bay, make sure the trip goes smoothly as possible ." relayed James, "Remember, you don't have powers to fend off yourself. You're vulnerable to any physical trauma and magic."
"But the coat is resistant to it!" argued Radial, pleading her brother to tag along, "And Celestia said I might have an aptitude, so please, let your sis come with you!"
"I'm sorry big sis," James humbly apologized, getting up from his bed and preparing to head out as he took a pair of aviator sunglasses from his bedside stand and put them on very smoothly, "Until Celestia updates you on your powers, I'll take the wheel on this one..."
"A-Alright..."
"Now, let's not be late to meet up with Twilight!" reminded Mobius from across the room, glancing at Radial for a quick moment. "We need to make sure she still takes the photos of the six."
Radial left James behind in the house as she sets off with her 'brother' Mobius following behind. But, before James could warp to the forest, he tapped on the app containing Harmony and made her jump into the frame of the screen.
"Is it that time already? Do you think this would play out the same as Cozy Glow's case? The last time I've checked, she's still pissed off with Twilight and her friends. "
"Yeah, of course, it's my mission after all," answered James, slowly reaching for a quick question. "Is that special feature we talked about ready for action?"
"I just got done crafting it. You should be able to execute it anytime!"
"Good. Because I'm counting on you!"
A moment to recollect what he was about to do, James' heart was pounding inside him in response to his major performance in the following hour. He couldn't believe he was going to be 50% finished with his job and finally get the paycheck of a lifetime. But, he didn't take his time spent in Equestria for granted. He enjoyed living with his favorite cartoon characters, seeing a side of them that he never knew, and seeing more than what he was perceived with. All while pacing back and forth as he held his phone in the palm of his left hand.
"I might as well get a head start and follow her into the forest after she takes those pictures. What I do next has to be an important step to bring her to the light of things. Maybe I should call up Discord and update my status."
He reached towards the contacts list and made a quick call to Discord when the phone rang for a few seconds. A voice on the line picked up on the other side as James lifted his phone's speaker to his head.
"Hello James. I'm sure you are aware of the surprise she had in store for you?"
"Umm...YES!" James shouted, "It's still crazy how Celestia could just do something like that! That's nothing like her character!"
"I was shocked myself! Anyways, I'm aware of why you're calling me. Today's the big friendship retreat Fluttershy has been talking about. Also, a certain changeling shows up to do some rather pathetic scheme."
"I know, and I already have a plan to solve it in no time! Just want to give you a heads up,"
"Excellent, can't wait to see how it happens! Again, wish you good luck to the both of you!"
Discord hung up the call while James closed down his contacts app to reach the map, planning to take a head start to
part of the forest Chrysalis wandered about. He already got the exact locations where she would navigate with the assistance of his sister scouting the locations.
"It's showtime!"
Meanwhile, inside the school of friendship, all of the students attending this special camping trip were seated just inside the library huddled up at one table seated across from each other. Mobius was the only one to be seated at the short end of the table when he stood silently over his friend's excitement and curiosities of this camping trip.
"Ooo! This is my first time camping well, ANYWHERE!" shrieked Silverstream, hugging her sleeping bag rolled up between her arms.
"Shh!" Yona tried to hush her as she stood with her plethora of camping gear on her torso. "This is the school library! No loud noises!"
"It's okay, Yona. Twilight closed down the library just for this day, we have the whole place to ourselves!" Ocellus said, waving her hoof over the total privacy of the library. "Maybe I'll borrow a few books for the trip?"
Smolder crossed her arms, seated next to Ocellus to her right side. "Pfft, why do reading outside when you can just enjoy the outdoors?"
"You're not much of an outside creature, aren't you Smolder?"
"No way, I love the outdoors...I'm worried about those three" the dragon pointed her index claw towards the boys, seemingly playing a little hoof wrestle with Gallus and Sandbar using their right forelegs to apply as much force as possible to make the other go down. "Hey, you three!"
Just as Smolder called out the three across from the table, Sandbar took his focus off of the game and caused him to instantly be defeated by Gallus slamming his talon over at his hoof. He cheered. "Woo! I win! You get to sleep in the middle part of the tent!"
"Aww man..." sighed Sandbar, burying his head over on the table, noticing Smolder's call out for them when he gave her all of his attention. "What now, Smolder."
"This is going to be our first time camping," she began her stern warning, staring upon them, "So no funny business sneaking into our tents at night or you'll be burnt to a crisp!"
"Why would we ever tarnish your first ever camping experience?" asked Gallus, trying to fiddle with his two talons on each side and looking away, "Relax, and enjoy the outdoors!"
She responded raising her brow with a curled lip at the suspicious-sounding griffon, "O...kay..."
"Mobius, did you bring some extra comic books from your collection?" when Sandbar came and turned his face towards him, all he saw was a silent and deadpan face droning out in the distance. Making the pony sound anxious over his behavior, "Dude, are you alright?"
One poke with his talon was enough for Mobius to snap back into "H-Huh!? W-what!? Sorry, I'm a bit anxious is all."
The table turned their attention to him, slowly making snickering noises along with the table. Silverstream had to be the more giggly one when she teased. "Ooo!.Do you think Twilight has something planned for you that you can't be ready for?"
"Not that..." Mobius stared down at the table. "I'm just curious about camping, that's all!"
"It's alright dude it's most of our first time camping!" Smolder swirled within her seat. "If you get scared, maybe Twilight or your big sister will come and pamper you!"
"Yes...let's go with that..."
The doors to the library slammed open, with Radial Shine dead center within the entrance as she called out to the students towards the right side of the library. "Hey, everycreature! It's time to go already!"
"It seems we're behind schedule by 12 minutes approximately." reported Ocellus, "Twilight never likes to be late, or early. Is something troubling we should know?"
"Nothing to worry about, some photographer wanted photos of her and the teachers." winked Radial to Mobius, who smiled a bit. "Now, follow me every creature! The trek is far!"
"Remain calm, James, you're about to reveal your face to one of your targets. Just stick to the plan and you will be fine. If it somehow goes south, go with the backup plan; stick her in Tarturus while thinking up another plan. I should be close to her now.
Approaching inside the depths of the forest was the sinister changeling queen herself walking slowly through the path. Snickering within the boundaries of six photos of Twilight and her friends floating in front of her face. "Hehehehehe! Just a few more steps and I'll be able to claim what I needed to stop Starlight Glimmer and the rest of that traitorous Thorax! I'll make sure that no creature would ever-"
"-I'm going to have to stop you right there ma'am!"
"Hmm? Who dares too..." before she could go any further, Chrysalis oriented herself in a complete 180, recognizing that creature's shape and voice as it slowly walked towards her from the dense part of the forest, "Wait a moment, It's you! You're that creature I stumbled upon a while back! What do you want from me, can't you see I'm busy executing my glorious-"
But before Chrysalis finished, James stopped her with a little time bubble where she stood completely immobilized within the confines of the sphere. One quick dash from his step later, he made sure to grasp hold of the photos from her possession and take a step back where he originally stood. James nonchalantly stood right in front of the changeling's eyes waiting for her to break free from her pause as the sphere broke seconds after.
"These are wonderful photos of Twilight and her friends. A strand of their manes too? Ooo! This would fetch a nifty price to the right buyer!" he playfully teased the changeling, fanning the photos to his face.
She took a glance around her side to see the materials needed for her plan suddenly in possession of the creature before her, this time, it was unhooded and appeared to be a tan-skinned creature with a black short haircut and wearing a pair of...aviator glasses?
But that was the least of her issues when her possession of the photos vanished into thin air, making Chrysalis peek at the creature holding them. This strange anomaly caused her to hiss back at him, "Those belong to ME! How did you manage to get them!?"
Chrysalis 'tried' forcefully pounced over at his location to bring him down on the ground, however, she seemed to be left dumbfounded when she found herself missing him entirely and plopping down on the ground. He was just standing a few feet away from her but in the complete opposite direction from where she stood.
"Ouch! That's got to hurt in the morning!" chuckled James, seemingly eyeing her from a distance when she stood back up from her fall
"Silence! Have you realized what you're doing!?" she already sounded very pissed by the arrogance of this strange creature she stumbled upon. "Can't you see I'm about to"
"Yeah, you're not getting the elements of harmony that way. There's no way the tree of harmony would be that stupid to give them to some knockoff look-alikes of the bearers of harmony."
Taking a moment to stand up from her fall, she gasped upon the creature's clairvoyant mind. "Impossible, I have never told any living soul about my wonderful schemes! There's no way you could have known everything, are you a spy for Princess Twilight!?"
James shook his head. "No, but I'm here to bring you salvation, and reverence of your unfortunate downfall."
"You?" she raised her brow, "I don't even know your name? And you want me to listen to you!? TCH!"
"Ah, I knew I was forgetting something. My name is Amon, let me be the first to say," he moved slowly up to her still grasping onto the photos with his left hand as he paced back and forth, "Your plan stinks...period!"
"Huh!? How dare you call my brilliant plan complete trash!" she barked over at the cocky individual, keeping her distance to prepare for a blast of magic. "Can't you see I'm a queen!"
"Former queen, to be precise. Not the brightest of plans, I'll give this one a 4 out of 10; and that's being generous from me!" the critique of her plan made Chrysalis steaming hot from anger and frustration. "Don't worry, I came to aid you. If you hear me out, I can bestow upon you a proposal to benefit the both of us."
Her anger died down when she was intrigued by the creature's proposal. "If you're this persistent, it must be worth listening to. Go on..."
"I'm a person that likes to get things straight, so I'll make it brief." he placed the photos within the confines of his pocket, giving Chrysalis a short rundown of his idea, "Let us work together! With my powers and your fiery passion, we can team up and get your revenge on Twilight for ruining your plans at the Royal Wedding, Starlight for setting a coup from your hive, and that traitor you call Thorax for changing into...whatever you want to call him now..."
Not even a second to mull it over and Chrysalis answered back after a burst of laughter. "HAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAA! Do you think I'm a fool? Me!? Teaming up with ANYONE!? Don't make me vomit! The queen of the changelings does not need anyone to stand beside her! I was betrayed by my kind, and humiliated by those ponies! Do you think you can do better than me? I'm the strongest changeling out there! I will have it all once I get rid of Twilight and the magic of friendship!"
As expected from her, James can already tell she won't turn that easily. Of course, holding a grudge for this long has already made her far beyond changing, but he simply won't give up now. He decided it was time that he would push her buttons further; A bright idea popped within his head.
"I'm probably going to hurt a lot of Chrysalis fans out there, but it's a necessary evil.."
"Geez, " huffed out James slowly went close by her, "You're kind of a bitch."
She twitched her left eye, overly frustrated over James' critique of her title, "...What did you call me?"
"Do you really think you would ever win against Starlight, or perhaps Twilight and her friends?" he added in extra remarks to get in her mind when he pointed his index finger to her, "I came here to offer you salvation, yet you remain this stubborn? Your strong will and leadership combined with the power of friendship would make for an excellent ruler of the new changeling hive, but you refuse? Strong enough to have it all, too weak to take it!"
"You dare call me weak!? I show you weak!"
Chrysalis fired a long trail of energy out of her horn and aimed for James' chest area. He quickly responded by casting a shield that neutralized the beam and kept him safe inside the sphere. But, she didn't get the memo as Chrysalis persisted in firing beam after beam in quick succession. The shield wasn't going to last for much longer, so James needed to think of something on the fly to get her to calm down.
"Impossible!" she was appalled by this strange creature's magic, "Why must you keep pestering me, creature!?"
"It would appear that Chrysalis is very much persistent, I needed to drill deeper into her mind. I need to think of something that could get her to listen. But, what could that—"
The shield soon wore off and it left James vulnerable for the beam to hit him directly on the chest and flying a few feet in the air and down on the cold dirt with his back taking the fall.
"Arrgh! Shit! I should've been more careful, if only I could go back..."
It was only just mere visuals, but James saw himself rising without any effort when his eyes were looking in many directions. What is happening, he thought. It was only him that was acting like he was rewinding to the point he was hit by the beam from Chrysalis' horn as he stood at the same point in time completely intact. He knew exactly what was happening, it was the Time Reversal that Discord mentioned early.
"This must be time reversal, I went back to the point upon impact and returned as if nothing even happened. But I remember that Chrysalis will be frozen in time for a short time. I have to act, NOW!"
At one second's glance, Chrysalis was completely still in time, just like before. James acted fast and cast to slow down time as he ran behind to Chrysalis's direction to throw her off for a bit. As the time flow went back to normal, she soon snapped out of her time trance and attempted to fire again, only to stare at nothing at her target. "Again with that! Where did it go!?"
It seems like he needed to take his little plan to the next level, as James spooked her when he spoke out loud behind her back. "Alright, I've lost my patience. Time for the next phase!"
"Next phase?"
He stuck his right hand into his pocket and operated his phone from inside. Blindly tapping on the screen to the already opened map application and out appeared a portal in between him and Chrysalis. The sudden ambiance of energy behind her made Chrysalis turn around, seeing a bluish ring vortex appearing in front of her. When she thought to believe it led to nowhere, she saw a familiar place on the other side of the vortex.
"Isn't that, the changeling hive!?" she asked herself as two changelings were seemingly preparing to run through the vortex to her side. She immediately recognized them from a distance, "And are those..."
*WHAABAM*
The two brothers came through the vortex and prepared for a full-frontal assault as they successfully pinned her down on the ground. She was struggling to break free from Pharynx's hold on her neck while Thorax heled her by the torso. The two were now restraining her like a freshly caught fish from the ocean.
"GRAAAH! L-LET ME GO!" cried CHrysalis, shaking her head in different directions as she groaned. "This is mutiny I tell you...MUTINY!"
"Thorax! The spell!" ordered Pharynx, who struggled to apprehend her from the neck.
It didn't take him a full second to fire a small beam right into Chrysalis' head, which caused her to feel groggy and disorientated. Seconds later, she went completely limp as she appeared to be passed out. The changelings release their hold from her, stepping back a few to let James come forward a bit.
"Excellent spell execution!" James complimented Thorax, walking to his right side, "Is she alright?"
"I just made her fall asleep, she won't be sleepy for long though." warned Thorax, scratching the backside of his head, "The preparations for the place are ready, shall we begin phase 2?"
"Yes, we must..."
The large group of creatures was walking inside the depths of the forest with Twilight leading the way. She was accompanied by Radial Shine, who was by her side as her friends were more spread out from the group. At the backside were the younger students, looking quite bored from all the walking and baggage carrying.
"So Twilight..." it was that moment where Radial wanted to make small talk with her 'brother's girlfriend' from another world, "How are things with Mobius?"
Twilight responded with a small smile, "It's going great! He's been keeping up with me, probably better than my brother!"
Radial cringed, "I beg your pardon?"
"I mean, he was such a fast learner already. But after a while, he started to get better maybe even amazing with the things we do alone."
"Things...Alone?"
The alicorn went on rambling more, failing to give context from her conversation. "I just didn't feel like he's going to go anywhere with just me. Maybe I'll let Starlight takeover for a while, I think she can handle his pace!"
Eyes twitching, and ears huffing out steam, Radial placed her nostrils over at Twilight's head, giving her a fierce staredown as she barked. "What the hay are you doing to my little brother!?"
"Woah! Calm down Radial! I was talking about his magic lessons!" Twilight answered, quivering from her legs. "I'm sorry I forgot to mention it earlier."
"Oh..." she retracted herself from the princess. "S-Sorry, I thought you were, you know..."
"Know what?"
After Radial hovered her lips over to Twilight's ear to whisper what she was believed was happening, her face turn a bright red when she quickly got flustered. "N-n-n-n-n-no! I wouldn't EVER try that with him! We're dating yes, but we're not quite ready for that stuff!"
By the time Twilight explained everything to Radial, Silverstream and Gallus were hovering above the path just like Rainbow Dash were, they overheard Radial's little tantrum snickering behind their talons covering their mouths.
"Wow! Your sister is a beast, Mobius!" said Gallus, looking down to where Mobius was walking just a few feet from Ocellus.
He didn't feel like speaking to her at the moment, so Gallus carefully lowered his altitude to bump Mobius' shoulder to get his attention, asking, "Dude, you don't look alright. You're sweating a rainforest!"
"I'm fine," blurted Mobius, "I'm just tired that's all."
"We have been walking for a while now," Sandbar trotted right next to Mobius, picking up his pace when he entered the conversation, "I just hope Twilight knows where she's going. But still, you're worrying us Mobius. Are you very certain you're all right?"
This was pretty much awkward for James, as he was experiencing two different things from two different perspectives. It was alright for him to be around his host self nearby, but this was his first time being far away from himself. He needed to act like the regular teen colt he is.
"I just never traversed these parts of the Everfree forest," he answered with his teeth chattering, "It's just scary to me."
"Hmm?" Gallus scratched his head with a talon, trying to grasp what exactly she said, "I never thought you were a scaredy-cat. That's another thing we found out about you!"
"Yeah!" swooping down to ground level, Silverstream followed the guys along the path when she came close to Mobius for a while, "First you had an older sister that YOU never told us about, now you're afraid of forests!? What do you think about that, Sandbar?"
But Sandbar was nowhere to be seen anymore when she turned her head across from Mobius to find no creature in sight. Sandbar on the other hoof scurried up to the front to speak with Fluttershy to make it look like he's doing some important business. Smolder caught a glimpse of him, walking with her two legs next to Ocellus.
"Sandbar needs to grow a pair..." sighed the dragon.
Ocellus turned her head towards her and curiously asked, "Huh? A pair of what?"
"Nevermind!"
At the changeling hive, James had his hood lowered and glasses bouncing the light off of them. He sat at a makeshift chair the changelings made as ordered by Thorax. The rest of the changelings sat on the ground in a perfect row by row manner as if waiting for a theatrical performance. Thorax was walking up to him when he was just finishing up with Chrysalis. She had her hooves and torso restrained to some iron chains as she remained limp on the ground just a few feet away from James' seat.
"Alrighty James, the preparations are set," Thorax confirmed the situation. "She won't be able to cast any transformations using that spell I've used. She should be powerless to escape,"
"Excellent!" James raised his right index finger, propping his head with his left fist and resting his elbow on the armrest, "We can begin as soon as she wakes up!"
"Yeah, about all of this...what exactly are we doing?" Thorax wasn't so sure on what to make with all of this preparation.
"Have you heard of Dr. Phil?" he curiously asked Thorax from the side.
He responded with a small cringe on his face. "N-No..."
"Well then, what I'm about to do will make ABSOLUTELY no sense to you!"